After sending everyone away, Franz's tense face instantly relaxed. It could be seen that he wasn't really angry.
It was natural for the Army, Navy, and Air Force to compete for military funds. This was also part of the balance of power. If the Army, Navy, and Air Force didn't compete, that would be the real problem.
Seeing that Franz wasn't angry, Frederick The Great asked with concern, "Father, of the three plans proposed by the military, which one do you prefer?"
It had nothing to do with curiosity. Frederick The Great really couldn't make up his mind and didn't know who to support at all.
On the surface, the strategic plans proposed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force were all very operable. If any of the plans succeeded, it could bring the Holy Roman Empire to its peak.
All of them were "high-quality strategies." It was impossible to analyze the advantages and disadvantages, which increased the difficulty of choosing.
"Is this important?"
Franz asked.
As if he was being interrogated, the question "is this important" kept flashing in Frederick The Great's mind. It seemed to be important, but it also seemed not important at all.
Shinra's military was still qualified. Although the three proposed plans all had their own flaws, they ultimately reached the same goal.
Other competitors hadn't grown up yet. As long as the British were pulled down, Shinra would be the world's sole hegemon.
After a while, Frederick The Great slowly replied, "I understand."
Looking at his son's cautious face, Franz smiled and said, "No, you don't understand. In fact, we don't have a choice at all.
Politics is never about winning or losing based on right or wrong. Perhaps by adopting a separate strategy, we can win at the lowest cost, but we must consider the actual situation.
In the past few years, the Army dominated the military. In order to balance the military's strength, I supported the Navy and separated the Air Force, establishing the current triangular balance system.
Now, the Navy and Air Force together can barely compete with the Army, but at the same time, they have touched the bottom line of the Army.
No matter what concessions they make, they can't let the Navy get the same amount of military funds as them. This is the pride of the Army.
You should know how much influence the Army has. The establishment of the Holy Roman Empire was basically achieved by the army.
More than ninety percent of the feudal lords and new farmers overseas came from the army. More than seventy percent of the bureaucrats in the government had served in the army.
Not to mention the civilians. Our compulsory military service law is aimed at the army. The Navy and Air Force were both technical arms, so it was impossible for everyone to serve.
With so many supporters, it was impossible for the Land Army to lose. As long as they insist on not giving in, even if the Air Force and Marine join forces, it will be useless.
We can't possibly take the field ourselves and take sides, can we? "
The Emperor personally intervened in the fight, just like the referee kicking a ball. Just thinking about it was enough. No mature monarch would do such a thing.
Even before supporting the Navy and stripping the Air Force, it was the Cabinet who took the lead. From the beginning to the end, Franz did not personally participate in the battle, let alone now.
Perhaps for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, this competition for military expenses was extremely important, as it was related to their development for the next ten years.
But for the Emperor and the Holy Roman Empire, no matter which plan was chosen, the final outcome was doomed.
This was determined by the comprehensive national strength. Today, Shinra and Britannia had a qualitative gap.
Including the colonial citizens, the total population of the Holy Roman Empire had reached 160 million, and Europe alone had 120 million.
On the other hand, Britannia and the British Isles added up to only 30 million people. Including the citizens of the overseas colonies, the total population was only about 40 million.
Of course, if the indigenous people of the colonies were included, the ratio was reversed. India alone had a population of three to four hundred million, and the entire Britannia controlled a total population of more than 500 million, while Shinra had less than 180 million.
It was true that the British Empire had a large population, but unfortunately, the utilization rate was not high. The primitive colonial rule could plunder wealth, but it was far from enough to strengthen the national strength.
Comparing the data, the total economic output of the Holy Roman Empire was one-fifth higher than that of the entire British Empire (including the colonies), and the total industrial output was 2.5 times that of Britannia.
This was just the beginning. With the passage of time, this gap continued to widen.
If such a big advantage could be lost in the end, Franz would not be able to live in this world anymore.
In addition to deliberately expressing his dissatisfaction to the military, Franz hoped that the military could compromise with each other.
Unless the British admitted defeat in advance, no matter which strategy was chosen, the future would require the cooperation of the army, navy, and air force. It was nothing more than a matter of priority.
Even if the three forces compromised, it would waste a lot of money to develop at the same time. Franz would accept it.
This was the helplessness of a big country. In order to balance the interests of all parties, almost every big country would face the problem of wasting resources.
…
The battle for military funds continued, but the new "Rome" was the first to have a problem. When the armament and supporting equipment were completed, everyone suddenly discovered that the "Rome" was not very resistant to wind and waves.
There was nothing strange about it. Almost all experimental ships had problems of one kind or another. The perfect product produced at one time was not suitable for warships.
There had always been a saying in the navy that "the design is ahead, the construction is behind."
The "Rome" was considered good. At least after its completion, it still maintained the world's leading standards. The British "super battleship" was still being designed, and other countries had no interest in following suit.
Despite its lack of resistance to wind and waves, and its small problems, the "Rome" was strong enough in the Mediterranean Sea.
Now that they had something on him, the Army naturally had to make use of it. As long as it was proven that the "Rome" did not have the ability to fight at sea, the Navy's super battleship plan could only be aborted.
Unfortunately, Franz was already familiar with this little trick. He did not give anyone a chance to speak. "Block the news. Stop talking about the defects of the" Rome ". There is no need to talk about it in the future.
The lack of resistance to wind and waves will not affect its use in the Mediterranean Sea. When the navy arranges the mission, just pay attention and don't let it leave the Mediterranean Sea.
Follow-up publicity will continue, as long as the world cruise is removed.
The exploration of new technology is full of uncertainty. We can still bear this risk. "
The Shinra Navy already had the reputation of "Bathtub Navy," and Franz did not mind making it a reality. If the British wanted to see a joke, he would let them have their fill.
From another point of view, being able to use the Mediterranean Sea as a bathtub was another kind of achievement.
Throughout human history, which country that used the Mediterranean Sea as a bathtub was not powerful?
As long as it did not leave the Mediterranean Sea, the "Rome" was a real super battleship. Whether it was used to prop up a facade or to scare people, everything could be arranged properly.
Deep in his heart, Franz had made up his mind. If it was not necessary, he was not going to let the "Rome" go to the battlefield.
After all, it was a test ship. No one knew how many pits it had stepped on. The specific situation could be referred to the first generation of dreadnoughts of various countries in the original time and space world, which all had various kinds of pits.
A century-old navy did not necessarily need to develop for a hundred years, but it took a hundred years for a naval warship to constantly step on pits, walk through mines, and accumulate various lessons.
For Franz, as long as the test ship did not sink and could go to sea normally, it was qualified. As for other problems, they could wait for the second-generation and third-generation warships to improve.
Although Franz's words exempted them from further investigation, the "Super Battleship Plan" of the Admiralty was a step ahead of them.
Everyone could tolerate a "Rome" that could not leave the Mediterranean Sea, but no one could accept more than 20 battleships in one go.
Even if the Admiralty repeatedly assured that similar problems would not occur with the following warships, no one dared to accompany them on this adventure.
Of course, the "Rome" was not without its merits. At least its combat effectiveness was really strong. As long as it avoided the bad weather, it was still the king of naval battles.
In the end, the "25 years" super battleships plan of the Admiralty was cut to "5 years", and it was the first to be eliminated from the military competition.
Looking at Castagni's unwilling eyes as he left, Franz knew that this matter was not over yet. He estimated that when the problem was solved, the Navy would once again propose the "Super Battleship Plan".
With the Royal Navy, their competitor, helping to put up a show, it was believed that this day would not come too late.
…
Reducing the scale of warship construction did not mean reducing the publicity. As the brightest "baby" of the year, "Rome" was still the darling of the media.
After the supporting facilities were completed, "Rome" wandered around the Mediterranean Sea. Under the guise of exchanging experience, it constantly visited countries along the Mediterranean Sea.
Every time it visited a country, it had to conduct a joint military exercise.
The newly independent Italian countries suffered the most. They used a small destroyer that weighed more than a thousand tons to conduct a joint exercise with the "Rome" that weighed more than twenty thousand tons. The scene was simply …
If it weren't for the different flags, people would probably think of them as minions. No one would believe that this was a joint military exercise.
In order to create hype, the Government of Vienna had to do this. Only by creating hype, would the British Parliament be willing to allocate funds to the Royal Navy.
Just thinking about how he was so considerate of the enemy made him drunk. However, in order to consume the British's national strength, Franz decided to do it.
Regardless of whether the Shinra Navy could surpass the British in the era of dreadnoughts, at least in this wave of warship replacement, the British lost more than 70% of the Shinra Navy's.
Who asked them to have more warships?
In this era of naval technology revolution, whoever had more warships would suffer the most losses.
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